Test your tap water
You’ve probably heard that soap and shampoo work better in softer water. If you start trying to a no ‘poo routine and you have hard water, this fact has probably become abundantly clear to you. If it feels like the baking soda and apple cider vinegar rinses are leaving your hair waxy or greasy (as they are for me), hard water may be the culprit.
If you have trouble getting much froth from soap or toothpaste, or if you have lime scales on your shower walls or coffeepot, you have hard water. But if you’re a nerd like me, maybe you want to test it.
Science-y types can pick up a pack of 5-in-1 Quick Dip Strips at most pet stores that stock aquarium supplies. 
This little strip will also give you some other info about your water including nitrate and nitrite levels, alkalinity and pH (not too useful in our situation, but interesting to know). A pack of 25 strips will probably run you about $10-$15. (If you’re not in a hurry, you can request a free water testing strip from Diamond Crystal, a manufacturer of water-softening crystals.)
The strips are simple to use: dip in a cup of water (running under the tap may not give the best results), wait, compare to chart.
You can see in the picture below that water from my bathroom tap rates as very hard, or 300 ppm. According to Wikipedia, “Hardest waters (greater than 1,000 mg/L) are in streams in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Arizona, and southern California.” I am in East Texas, and this is not the first time I’ve felt that I have, essentially, liquid cement pouring from my tap.
Just for kicks, and to make sure my strips are properly calibrated, I also tested a glass of distilled water. You can see in the picture below that the distilled water measured zero hardness (in the photo, the testing pad appears closer to the color of the 25 ppm indicator, but in actuality the color was closer to 0 ppm on the chart). You can also see that the distilled water is slightly acidic.
So, what does this mean for those of us on a no-poo regimen, or, really, anyone who doesn’t like the effects of hard water on our hair? For no-pooers, at least knowledge is power: If you don’t like the results of BS/ACV washes, blame your hard water. If you’re fastidious, you can try doing a final rinse on your hair with clean rainwater or distilled water. I am not very fastidious. Some hard water no-pooers on the LiveJournal No_Poo community have had good luck bathing in Epsom salts and rinsing their hair in the same water. I have not tried this yet as my bathtub is small and I don’t use it very often.
What will work for me? I am in the middle of Week 4 of the no ‘poo routine, and so far, I haven’t found any combo of hair-washing/rinsing that has been a standout. But I will keep you updated as I keep exploring.
